How to Adjust a Drainage Lever in a Bathroom Sink

Pushing the drain lever down makes the sink stopper pop up.

The drainage lever attaches to the pop-up sink stopper on modern sinks. When you push the lever down, the stopper will pop up. When you pull the lever up, the stopper will fall into the drain hole and affect a positive seal. If the drainage lever is not adjusted correctly, in most cases, the sink stopper will not pop up completely out of the drain hole, and the sink will either drain slowly or not at all.

1

Locate the ball joint lever rod beneath your sink that is attached to the sink stopper. This will be a thin metal dowel rod that goes into the drain pipe on a horizontal axis. A ball joint is attached to the rod, which acts like a fulcrum, so that when you move it up and down, the attached sink stopper will also move up and down.

2

Locate the vertical drainage lever shaft. This shaft will have holes through it and be directly attached to the ball mount on top of your bathroom sink. By pulling the ball mount up or pushing it down, the shaft will also move up or down.

3

Find the connecting clip that attaches the vertical drainage lever shaft to the horizontal ball joint lever rod. The rod gets inserted first into a hole in the clip, then through a vertical drainage lever shaft access hole and then into a hole on the other side of the clip.

4

Adjust the drainage lever by letting the ball mount on the top of the sink to rest flush. This will make the drainage lever fully extended beneath the sink. Push down on the ball joint lever rod to make the sink stopper pop up. At the point where the ball joint lever rod and the vertical drainage lever meet, attach them together through a drainage lever access hole and the clip.

About the Author

Dale Yalanovsky has been writing professionally since 1978. He has been published in "Woman's Day," "New Home Journal" and on many do-it-yourself websites. He specializes in do-it-yourself projects, household and auto maintenance and property management. Yalanovsky also writes a bimonthly column that provides home improvement advice.